Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

UTA (16-6, 9-3) 69, Arkansas State (5-20, 3-9) 58
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017
College Park Center • Arlington, Texas
Postgame Quotes

UTA Head Coach Krista Gerlich

Opening statement …
"It was nice to get back on the winning track. I knew it would be a hard-fought game. I have the utmost respect for coach (Brian) Boyer and what he does at Arkansas State. I know that he is in a rebuilding year and is playing a lot of young kids but he teaches those kids to play hard and believe in what they are doing. They really battled us well. Our kids didn't panic in the first half. We missed some early shots - I feel like we are playing a little bit tight - maybe because we have lost two back-to-back and we haven't experienced that this year and maybe we're a little nervous and a little tight. Once we settled down in the second quarter we really turned it around a little it, battled back and got even with them. Both of these kids (Allyson Teo and Rebekah VanDijk) played well. Rebekah started out a little shaky and continued to work hard, her teammates did an ice job of getting her the basketball. I can't say enough about Ally Teo and the season that she is having, first of all, but juts what she has done for our program and how she has helped us build it. It is really nice to see her get some payoff and get some good minutes, and she was very productive tonight with her minutes. I do a grade sheet after each game, and we just talked about it against Little Rock she was our highest grade after it was over and we had calculated everything, and she didn't score a point. That is really hard to do because you get a lot of points on the grade for scoring points, obviously. That speaks volumes about what she is doing for us. I thought Aysia Evans came in and gave us a spark, particularly in the fourth quarter and found a way to score the basketball for us. A good overall win. It wasn't the prettiest at times but it was really good to get that. Every win, every game is going to be hard fought and every win is going to be a battle. Really proud of the girls for finishing."

On a slow start …
"It was pretty slow. I thought our energy was pretty good the first couple of possessions and I thought we got them turned over, got some easy buckets and didn't finish our layups. We talked about that during the timeout, at the media timeout, to relax and get the ball in the hole because they are doing the hard work by getting the steal or getting to the rim. We just weren't knocking down shots. I did think that Arkansas State started out hot. That is something that we've got to learn and that is how our roles have flipped this year. We are used to being the hunters instead of the hunters. And not that we are at the top or anything like that but I do think people know that we are in the top three so they start getting up to play us and we are going to get everybody's best shot."

On getting back to winning at home …
"Obviously it is good. We want to win and we hate that we dropped two back to back, but dropped them at home. We've got to protect home court better than that and we had been doing a good job at that up until then. Glad we got the win in front of our fans and give them something to cheer about as well."

UTA Student-Athletes

#44, Jr., Rebekah VanDijk, C

On closing the game strong …
"Just staying together at the end was really important. We were really close and then it started to get us a lead and we had to stay together, continue to work hard, execute and get stops on defense. I thought we did that."

On Allyson Teo …
"It is awesome. She is a great leader on the floor and I think that everyone can see that. She constantly brings energy for me so I can get a little break. I never worry when I get out of the game because she will take care of business. She always works hard, gives 110-percent. She is a great person to have on the team and I love playing with her."

#25, Sr. Allyson Teo, F

On the win …
"From my point of view, just from my first year, we played them close the first time we played them at home, I think we lost by like four. It was just a different team. Like coach said, it has been a process and it is just about trusting in them and they are putting trust in me and that is why we are doing what we are doing now. This program isn't perfect by any means but we are getting there and that is all that matters. About grinding out to get those wins."